Airforces Monthly - February 2017

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WZL-2 MRO FACILITY Polish MRO Experts BASED IN the Polish city of Bydgoszcz, Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze 2 (Military Aviation Maintenance Works No 2; WZL-2) is perhaps the finest maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility of its kind in Eastern Europe. It’s currently occupied with routine maintenance, service life extensions and avionics upgrades for Soviet-era combat jets. A primary partner of the Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (SPRP; Polish Air Force), WZL-2 ensures safe, continued operation of the Su-22 Fitter fighter-bomber, MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter and C-130E Hercules transport fleets. It repairs and overhauls 60 different parts and assemblies for Polish F-16s and is preparing to take on depotlevel maintenance and repair for this type. The state-owned plant has an 800-strong workforce and is controlled by the Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ; Polish Armaments Group). Set up by the government in 2014, PGZ united the state-owned defence industry to ensure growth in capability. Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze 2 is well equipped to carry out overhauls, service life extensions, inspections and upgrades on the MiG-29 and Su-22M4/ UM3K, although it receives no technical assistance from the types’ design bureaus or manufacturing plants. It compensates for this through co-operation with aircraft repair plants and spare parts suppliers in former Soviet countries including Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, purchasing vital spares and gaining maintenance knowhow and engineering assistance. Overhauls involve disassembly, detailed inspection and repair of aircraft structures and associated stripped-down parts and systems, followed by reassembly. Ground and flight testing complete this process, the organisation using SPRP pilots for post-maintenance functional check flights (FCFs) or developmental test work. Most damaged or worn-out parts are repaired in WZL-2’s workshops, which have a production capability that currently manufactures 20,000 different parts. The plant’s catalogue varies from simple seals and packings in rubber and plastic to complex metallic parts and electronic components. It’s equipped with modern, digitally controlled machinery, including threeand five-axis milling machines and lathes to produce complex, load-bearing metallic parts such as components for the airframe and landing gear of the Su-22 and MiG-29. In most cases the parts are reverseengineered, the dimensions and shape of the original being acquired through precise measurement by 3D laser scanner. A digital model is then created and the original material analysed before stress tests are conducted to select material for the new component. Production usually employs new materials selected by WZL-2’s engineers. The digital model is then used in conjunction with computercontrolled milling machines and lathes, and finishing processes are followed as required. New parts pass through a strict certification process before final approval from the SPRP’s chief engineer. Most are produced for MiG-29s and Su-22s undergoing heavy maintenance or life extension, but the SPRP occasionally orders them for installation at squadron level. Ground support equipment, including complicated electronic test stands for the MiG-29, have been developed, manufactured and repaired. The plant’s Fulcrum equipment replaced 1970s-vintage Soviet kit. Production Director Jędrzej Kowalczewski says that, after 25 years at WZL-2, he believes overhauling old aircraft is more difficult than manufacturing new airframes. He told AFM that frequent manufacturing defects, damage and wear and tear must all be fixed at the plant. This is sometimes a protracted and difficult process, but Kowalczewski says WZL-2 has robust capabilities to overcome issues. It also has the most modern paint 80 FEBRUARY <strong>2017</strong> #347 www.airforcesmonthly.com
WZL-2 MRO FACILITY While the WZL-2 MRO facility helps keep Poland’s frontline Sovietera aircraft operational, Alexander Mladenov explains how it has developed independent capabilities and gained new competencies with Western types. ‘Overhauling old aircraft is more difficult than manufacturing new airframes’ Above: A MiG-29 is put through its paces during a postmaintenance functional check flight. Left: An upgraded 1 ELT MiG-29 partially dismantled for periodic maintenance in WZL-2’s main reassembly hall. The area is busy with MiG-29 and Su-22 maintenance checks and life extension work. Below: With engines removed, an upgraded 1 ELT MiG-29 undergoes scheduled maintenance in WZL-2’s packed final assembly hall. All photos Alexander Mladenov www.airforcesmonthly.com #347 FEBRUARY <strong>2017</strong> 81
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Airforces Monthly - February 2017

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